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Authorities believe the slaying of a corrections officer and the brazen escape of an armed, heavily tattooed white supremacist prison inmate was a crime of opportunity.
"I don't know that he had this planned really well. I don't know that this was planned at all," Utah Department of Corrections director Tom Patterson told the Deseret Morning News. "A situation presented itself and he took advantage of it. I'm not seeing anything thus far that would indicate that this was a plan for him."
Curtis Allgier is back in jail, accused of killing corrections officer Stephen Anderson in an escape that led to a high-speed chase, culminating in a tense confrontation Monday morning inside a fast-food restaurant. Police said Allgier killed Anderson after stealing his gun and shooting him in the head.
Anderson, 60, of Bluffdale, was a 22-year corrections veteran.
"I don't think he had an enemy in the world," said Anderson's son, Shawn, who is a corrections officer himself.
Corrections officials said Allgier was in an exam room inside the University Hospital's Orthopaedic clinic about 7:45 a.m. to undergo an MRI for lower back pain. Metal objects, such as handcuffs, cannot be used during an MRI.
Police were unsure Monday if Anderson was attempting to put on plastic "flex-cuffs," when Allgier overpowered him.
"In the exam room, something happened," University of Utah Police Chief Scott Folsom said. "We presume an altercation. There were signs of a struggle in the room."
Corrections officials said that to the best of their knowledge, Anderson followed all proper procedures at the hospital. After grabbing Anderson's gun, Folsom said, Allgier fired at least one shot, hitting Anderson in the head and killing him.
Escape
With the slain officer's gun in his hand, police said Allgier ran out the door and then headed down the hill toward Foothill Drive. There, he stopped an SUV with two people inside, forcing them out and stealing their vehicle.
Salt Lake City police developed information that Allgier might be headed toward the area of 900 West and 400 South where an acquaintance lived, Salt Lake City Assistant Police Chief Scott Atkinson said.
Trisha Tower told KSL Radio she received a phone call from Allgier as he was headed toward her home.
"He just said that he killed a cop and he was sorry and he loved me, they would probably kill him and he said bye," she said, sobbing.
As they saw him approaching, officers scrambled to get into position. Two police cars collided while trying to block a road, Atkinson said. Two other vehicles, including one belonging to a passerby, also suffered minor damage. No one was seriously hurt.
From there, Allgier led dozens of police officers on a chase that lasted nearly 40 minutes at speeds more than 100 miles per hour. The SUV was seen weaving in and out of cars in morning rush-hour traffic, a trail of police cars behind it.
The chase stretched from I-80 to southbound I-15, then onto westbound I-215 where the SUV's tires were spiked. Police said Allgier didn't stop, driving onto eastbound SR-201, before turning onto Redwood Road.
Mark Setterman was waiting at the intersection of 1700 South and Redwood Road, where he saw the SUV coming up behind him.
"I seen that blue car come by right up on the sidewalk right by me," he said. "Then I seen 50 to 60 cop cars right behind him."
Black tire tread across the curb and sidewalk shows the car turned onto 1700 South, then abruptly cut across into the parking lot of an Arby's restaurant.
"He had no control over the driving," Malanka Bytygi said, recounting the chase in broken English.
The SUV's right rear tire was shredded. When the vehicle stopped in the drive-thru, Allgier ran inside the restaurant.
Confrontation
Rod Park and Jeff Mousley were eating breakfast in Arby's. Allgier fired a shot and ran behind the counter where he held a gun to an employee's head.
"He yelled at us to get on the ground," Park said.
Approximately 10 customers and employees were inside the restaurant. One employee jumped through the drive-thru window and ran for safety. Three other customers ran from the building when police pulled up.
Shirley Smith was leaving the restaurant through the south door with her husband and teenage son when the gunman entered through the north door. She heard "a popping noise inside," and then saw a large number of police officers come up behind her.
"They told us to 'Get down! Get down!"' she said.
Smith said she and her family hit the pavement while officers, with guns drawn, converged on the door. Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened inside the restaurant.
"I hear a shot," said Sophia Wasseh, who was waiting for a bus outside Arby's.
Atkinson said two shots were fired — one by Allgier, the other by a Salt Lake City police officer. Neither shot hit anyone.
After Allgier put a gun to the employee's head, Park said he "kept hearing clicking noises," as if the gun was either empty or jammed. The last Park and Mousley saw, Allgier was struggling to pull what appeared to be an employee into the back kitchen area with him, as if he were trying to take the man hostage.
Police said that man was cut with some sort of object, but he was able to break free and was literally dragged out of the restaurant to safety. Officers said the man was bleeding and was loaded onto an ambulance where he was taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
"He had scrapes and scratches on his face," said Fawn Delaney, who watched the drama unfold from a nearby apartment building. "He had a big ol' huge beach towel wrapped around his neck."
It was that employee's first day on the job, Arby's patrons told the Deseret Morning News.
Another person also suffered minor injuries at the restaurant, although police did not have many details. At some point, there was a struggle inside the restaurant between Allgier and a customer. During the fight, Allgier lost control of the gun.
A 59-year-old former Army paratrooper named Eric Fullerton was responsible for disarming the inmate, according to police.
"I'm not a hero. Just did what I had to do," Fullerton told KUTV. "I didn't have time to think about being scared."
Officers found Allgier hiding in the manager's office in a back room. He surrendered.
Fallen officer
In an interview with the Deseret Morning News Monday, Shawn Anderson described his father as a generous, kind and caring man who was dedicated to his family.
"He was an amazing kind of guy who would do anything to help you out," Anderson said from his family's home in Bluffdale. "Just the greatest kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back."
Utah Department of Corrections director Tom Patterson met with Anderson's family Monday afternoon.
"I think they're still in a great deal of shock," he said. "Hopefully, we can be there to assist them as they go through the feelings they're going to experience."
Shawn Anderson said his family, who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are receiving great help and support from their ward. Funeral services are pending.
Criminal charges are expected to be filed within the next couple of days. Salt Lake District Attorney Lohra Miller said the slaying of a police officer and killing someone while trying to escape are considered aggravating factors that could lead to a death penalty case.
"There are a number of factors that might be there," she said.
In light of Monday's shooting, both the university and the corrections department suspended prisoner transports for medical needs while a review is conducted.
Corrections officials searched Allgier's cell on Monday, but declined to say what they took from it. They also questioned the inmate's cohorts.
"We're trying to look at any possibility that he would have involved other people," Patterson said. "Those things are being considered."
Contributing: Geoffrey Fattah
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; preavy@desnews.com